Top 11 Marketing Certifications That Can Land You a Job in 2019

The marketing sector is a highly penetrated industry, filled with talented marketing professionals seeking jobs that will allow them to sufficiently demonstrate their expertise. As a marketing recruitment agency, we also know businesses want nothing less than the top marketers to join their organizations. That’s why every effort counts when working to set yourself apart in an over-saturated market.

Taking advantage of available marketing certifications can be used to sharpen your skill set and make you a leading candidate for that job you’ve always wanted.

Marketing Recruitment Agency’s Top Certifications for Marketers in 2019

There may have been a few significant changes since the last time you updated your skill set with credible marketing certifications. And with so many courses and certifications to choose from, we know it can get overwhelming.

It boils down to the question: “which certifications are actually worth it and credible?” To guide you on the right path, we’ve compiled a list of the top certifications digital marketing recruiters are going to look for in the new year.

Update: We’ve updated this list and added key certifications that are additionally valuable in boosting your career forward in today’s current digital marketing landscape to ensure you’re getting the most up-to-date information.

1. Hootsuite Social Marketing Certification

Source: Hootsuite

Hootsuite, one of the most widely-used social media management platforms, offers a variety of social media marketing training across all levels. From an introductory course to an advanced social media strategy certification, Hootsuite helps marketers develop fundamental social marketing skills to drive valuable impact and results.

The Social Marketing Certification tests your knowledge of core concepts of social media marketing and proves your expertise as a social marketing master. Before taking the 60-question online exam to earn the certification, Hootsuite suggests taking their free social media training course.

As digital marketing recruiters, we know the impact social media has on brands’ digital strategies is undeniable. When we look for top social marketers, we look for those that make an effort to sharpen up their skills to truly stand out from the crowd.

Therefore, taking advantage of courses that are readily available to you, such as Hootsuite’s social media training courses is a painless way to set yourself up as a leading candidate. Best of all, once you pass the exam, the certification never expires and is yours to keep!

Cost: The costs of the different social media certifications Hootsuite offers vary. Here are a few:

Social Marketing Certification: $199

Advanced Social Advertising Courseware and Certification: $249

Advanced Social Media Strategy Certification: $999

2. Google Ads Certification

Source: Google

As an experienced marketing recruitment agency and digital marketers ourselves, we know the magnitude of Google Ads in the digital space. Whether you’re a seasoned marketing professional or jumpstarting your career, you’ve certainly become familiar with the concept of Google Ads. When used strategically, it’s extremely effective for businesses that are looking to boost ROI.

The Google Ads certification is a professional credential that is given to those that are able to demonstrate basic and advanced knowledge of Google Ads. It is designed to test your knowledge of online advertising concepts like the value proposition of online advertising; campaign setup and management; measurement; and optimization.

To become Ads certified in a specific Google Ads product area, you must pass the Google Ads Fundamentals assessment and one of the additional advertising product assessments (both have passing scores of 80%). The additional assessments are Search Advertising, Display Advertising, Mobile Advertising, Video Advertising, and Shopping Advertising, and are available through Academy for Ads.

3. Digital Garage: Fundamentals of Digital Marketing Certification

Google’s Digital Garage offers free tutorials on everything digital marketing – it’s essentially a one-stop shop for becoming a proficient digital marketer. From analytics and data insights to display advertising, the entire online course is comprised of 26 topics and is accredited by Interactive Advertising Bureau Europe and The Open University.

This program is for beginners seeking to learn the core concepts of digital marketing and for any marketers that want to brush up on their fundamental marketing skills. Once you complete all 26 modules and pass the final 40-question exam, you can proudly showcase your new certification.

Marketing recruitment agencies value certifications from credible platforms like Google. If you’re stepping into the world of digital marketing, obtaining a certification through Google’s Digital Garage is a great way to start.

4. HubSpot Content Marketing Certification

Source: Hubspot

As a marketing recruitment agency, we agree that content is still king in today’s digital space. Content is a core pillar of digital marketing and it’s critical for all marketers to possess adept writing and communication skills.

The HubSpot Content Marketing Certification encompasses 12 modules that keep you up-to-date on the latest content marketing best practices and research. The course is great for marketers who want to truly understand the impact of content marketing and help companies boost marketing ROI.

HubSpot offers several other pieces of training and certifications through HubSpot Academy to help you become a master of your craft including inbound, email, and sales techniques. Fortunately, they’re all free so ensure you take advantage of them as these are highly recognizable and great for instilling core marketing principles.

5. Facebook BluePrint Certification

Source: Facebook

Facebook advertising is an incredibly effective way for brands to reach their target audiences and drive brand awareness. As digital marketing recruiters, we recognize the value that marketing professionals who are proficient in advertising on Facebook bring to the table.

This program offers two certifications – the Facebook Certified Planning Professional and the Facebook Certified Buying Professional. These certifications are meant for marketers who work and manage Facebook Pages and advertising campaigns.

The Planning Professional will need to show expertise in planning successful campaigns on Facebook, targeting audiences for maximum impact, optimizing reach and frequency, along with other similar areas. The Buying Professional will need to demonstrate proficiency in certain areas including creating and purchasing Facebook ads, managing Pages, and understanding the Facebook Pixel.

Each certification comprises of two exams (with passing scores of 700) and is valid for one year. You may take the exams in any order, but Facebook recommends taking them in the order listed on their website. They’re administered through the Pearson VUE website.

The Blueprint Certification is the only one formally recognized by Facebook. According to Facebook, it’s the most advanced level in their Blueprint program and is designed to test your Facebook marketing skills to the fullest extent.

7. HubSpot Inbound Marketing Certification

Source: HubSpot

The HubSpot Inbound Marketing Certification is great if you want to stay updated with the latest inbound marketing best practices. The course covers seven modules that cover the comprehensive inbound methodology – including the fundamentals of inbound, creating buyer personas, and understanding the buyer’s journey.

Everyone is eligible to take the course and exam. This is a certification every marketer should have under their tool belt as it is a comprehensive course that links elements of digital, content and sales together.

8. Bing Ads Accredited Professional (BAAP) Certification

Source: Bing

Bing’s Accredited Professional program shows you how to get the most out of your ad spend and drive ROI from Bing Ads. Through Bing’s course, you will learn how to increase Bing Ads proficiency, optimize ad campaigns, and maximize Bing Ads reporting and tools knowledge.

You can work at your own pace to take the free courses and have unlimited time to finish the accreditation exam. You must receive a score of at least 80% in order to pass and become a member for a year. Once you earn your certification, you will be recognized as a Bing Ads expert with an official member badge and be placed in the Accredited Professional membership directory.

9. YouTube Certification

Source: YouTube

Video is the most effective and engaging forms of content, and knowing how to build a well-defined video content strategy is a valuable skill to have. YouTube is the second largest search engine (after Google), and being certified through it greatly boosts your credibility.

and provide the latest best practices and industry-level knowledge to help individuals succeed on the platform.

The YouTube Certified program is dedicated to educating all creators and users on YouTube, and providing the latest best practices and industry-level knowledge to help individuals succeed on the platform. YouTube offers three certifications covering areas like channel growth, content ownership, and asset monetization.

These certifications are available for qualified YouTube and Google advertising partners. After meeting the eligibility requirements and being accepted to YouTube Certified, you can select a certification and complete the self-paced course materials. Each exam is two hours long and you must score a 75% or higher in order to pass. Upon passing, the certification is valid for 18 months.

10. Stanford University’s Machine Learning Certification

Whether you’re a content marketer, social media specialist, data analyst, or SEO consultant, artificial intelligence has impacted the skills you need to stay relevant in some way and will continue to do so gearing into 2019. Luckily, the internet provides an abundance of courses and resources to prepare marketers for the AI economy.

This machine learning course provided by Stanford University and by Andrew NG – a professor at Stanford University and formerly head of Baidu AI Group/Google Brain – is one of the most subscribed courses on Coursera. It is a great introduction to machine learning, covering a variety of fundamental machine learning processes and best practices.

Keep in mind that the certificate does not represent official academic credit from Stanford University.

11. Deep Learning Specialization Certification

This is another certification that sits under the scope of AI. This deep learning specialization course by deeplearning.ai and The NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute (DLI) was developed to teach the foundations of deep learning. Across five courses, you will learn about convolutional networks, RNNs, LSTM, Adam, Dropout, BatchNorm, Xavier/He initialization, and more.

This course is best suited for marketers with some related experience and not for absolute beginners. Andrew Ng helped to create this program, so it’s a good idea to take his introductory machine learning course with Stanford University we listed above. Its end goal is to teach users how to build neural networks and lead successful machine learning projects. It will teach you how to practice these ideas in Python and TensorFlow.

Cost: The course and certificate are included in Coursera subscription for $49 per month

Want to discover more courses and certifications to grow your AI expertise? Check out our full, comprehensive list of the top AI certifications in 2019!

Final Words

Both marketing recruitment agencies and businesses regard marketing professionals who have recognized certifications as a bonus qualification. The rise of cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence is something every marketer should keep an eye on. AI and machine learning (ML) technologies are evolving more and more. It will open up doors for new opportunities for marketers, meaning new skills will be needed.

It’s certainly a fantastic time to be a marketer. But as great as the opportunities are, marketing is as unpredictable as it gets. New techniques and best practices come out every week, meaning marketers must stay on the edge of their seats to keep up. In order to truly stand out, it takes more than just hope and aspiration. You must proactively work to develop your skills to become more qualified in a highly competitive field.

There’s an abundance of other digital courses and certifications that are available online (and many that are free) for marketers who are looking to amplify their skills and get ahead in the constantly-evolving digital space. The ones listed above can be used as a starting guide to ensure you possess the core skills and capabilities digital marketing recruiters look for in top candidates. Be careful not to overwhelm yourself or pursue certifications that aren’t relevant to your career objectives.

Those who step up and take control of their career development will be the ones that stay ahead of the curve. Good luck and happy learning!

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